Sonic the Hedgehog - The Project Chaos Chronicles
by C W Sherman
Summary: Dr. Samuel Ivans has been assigned to study the properties of Chaos Waste, searching for the cure to a mysterious disease. But what will he do when his experiments lead to the birth of new life! An alternate universe Sonic the Hedgehog origins story.
1. Chapter 1: The Properties of Chaos Waste

**_Sonic the Hedgehog_**, **and it's respective characters, are property of SEGA, Sonic Team, Yuji Naka, and Naoto Ohshima. I in no way own any rights to the characters contained within this fan-based retelling, with the exception of any original characters who may occur, who in their present state exist in Copyright Limbo! Aside from those guys though, please support the original owners!**

**WARNING: _Sonic the Hedgehog - The Project Chaos Chronicles_ does not follow the plot of any Sonic the Hedgehog game, nor is it set in-universe, instead this story takes place on an altered Earth and merely uses the characters and plot devices of the Sonicverse. If you are looking for a story about Sonic the Hedgehog throwing down with the maniacal Dr. Eggman in an attempt to save feral animals, you will not find it here (probably). **

**Special thanks to Taranea and Captain Space, who took time to look into the first chapter at or prior to release and offered constructive feedback, which I accepted generally, however on some levels abandoned!**

**Without further ado, I give to you, Sonic the Hedgehog! (cough) Dr. Samuel Ivans.**

CHAPTER 1: THE PROPERTIES OF CHAOS WASTE

_Research Note 1: After three years doing basic lab work with the Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome virus I have finally been assigned to my own project. I have been told that this project will require a great deal of isolation, I am being sent to South America, to one of the abandoned cities, to begin research on a gel-like substance called Chaos Waste. Three details have been revealed to me about Chaos Waste outside of what is known within the public spectrum, which is simply that it must be contained and is the byproduct of the Chaos Energy put out by the Emeralds. 1: Chaos Waste, though a byproduct of a very advanced energy production system, contains within itself a massive store of untapped energy. 2: The Waste appears to have a Polymorphous nature to itself, taking on shapes of its own 'will'. 3, and this appears to be the reason for Project Chaos W: Within the gel-like substance are traces of what appears to be an un-evolved, or perhaps de-evolved, strain of NIDS. My plane touches down in four hours, at that time, I will make myself at home in a mansion on the outskirts of the city, already pre-furnished with all of my needed supplies. _

_DR. SAMUEL IVANS, HEAD RESEARCHER- PROJECT CHAOS W_

Dr. Samuel Ivans gazed out of his window, at a massive growth of dense jungle. It was the only thing that could be seen from this side of his new home. _That's quite a thought_, he mentally noted, _calling this lonely place your home._

Samuel was only twenty-seven years old, yet he was already considered an authority on biology, particularly in viral and bacterial fields. The man had been born with a sharp mind which was carefully attuned to the studies of sciences. He had not cared for history beyond scientific discoveries, he could care less for previous world leaders and great generals, and literature nearly bored him to death, having less interest in false histories than the real ones. Nevertheless he was a quick study and by age fourteen he had been accepted into a top university and was rapidly pursuing a degree in medical science, with intentions of being a surgeon.

However, his plans were altered after six years in university when he developed NIDS, the disease that would turn his entire personal life around, and drive him to hunt for nothing but a cure, after all, how could a man seek a physical relationship when his very touch could threaten to kill the woman he loved? Thus Ivo changed the focus of his studies, from medical sciences to bio-engineering and viral research, a field that had boomed in the last fifty years. Now his sole desire in life was to cure that horrible disease so that he could finally return to his life. _Someday,_ he reassured himself, _Mina and I shall raise a family._

Dr. Ivans turned away from the window and proceeded down his stairs toward the first floor, he stopped for a moment to examine himself in the mirror. His red hair was a thick, untended mop lying across the back of his head and down his neck. The dark red stubble on his chin had become unbearable, he would need to shave sometime soon. His green eyes twitched for just a moment as he stared at them, and in the same moment he clenched his fist in order to stop an uncontrollable trembling. The skin around his knuckles turned a ghostly white as he dug his fingers into his palm, an almost unnoticeable change compared to his already pale skin. Ivans had never been athletic, he was built slim and tall, and saw no reason to risk a single slender bone in pursuit of some sort of physical contest with larger men.

He chuckled, a thing that came so naturally to him it was almost a tic, he chuckled at the bad, and the good. It was almost a hearty laugh, or it would be if he did not always attempt to subdue it and in turn dragged it down to a low, thick noise, though it was not without mirth. The very thought of it being a tic made Samuel chuckle again, _What if it's just another byproduct of this damned disease? _He turned away from the mirror, proceeding downstairs toward his lab.

Ivans' lab took up the entire first floor's west wing, occupying what had once been an office space, a library, and a gym. Now, it was all one large room surrounded by bare stone walls. Tables lined the walls, filled with assorted instruments, dozens of microscopes and test tubes, and small cages. Samuel had two tables set aside in this room, both currently situated in the exact center of the laboratory.

The first bore several test tubes filled with blood, mostly his own, though two were labeled 'HEDGEHOG'; the small creature had been meandering around in the mansion when Ivo arrived and he resolved to keep it, as a sort of pet and to form the base of his research into the mysterious second strand of NIDS that appeared to occur in the plants and animals of the southern hemisphere.

The second table held fourteen small sealed containers, seven pairs each labeled with a unique color. These were the basis of _Project Chaos W_. Inside of each metal box was a large sample of Chaos Waste from one of the seven Chaos Emeralds that now provided power to most of the northern hemisphere. The expectation was that as these samples of Chaos Waste contained a _simple_ version of the NIDS virus, it would be possible to engineer an antivirus by experimenting on the different wastes to see what exactly allowed the virus to mutate. A side advantage to this of course was that someone would be experimenting with the waste itself.

Samuel cleared off a table under one of the windows that provided sunlight to the lab, carefully setting the test tubes that had been on it on one of the other nearby tables. He then took up the first container of Chaos Waste within reach and set it on the newly cleared table. A clean cut was made across the white band holding the container's lid on, and Ivans slowly poured the metallic liquid onto the table.

_Well, it doesn't seem to be doing anything_, he thought as the slime simply edged out toward the ends of the table, _In fact, it's not even changing shape._

At that the slime almost stood upright as all of its material was sucked toward its center, forming a rising stack that then slowly formed into an orb as it dispersed downward. Dr. Ivans chuckled as he gave it a long hard look, and he felt as if it could almost be looking back at him.

_No one has yet come in physical contact with this substance, _Ivans noted as he hovered over the slime, _Ha! It doesn't appear to be corrosive; it's not eaten through anything yet anyway. Hm…doesn't really seem toxic either, at least it doesn't have noxious scent. _

With that Dr. Samuel Ivans took the first step he felt he needed to within _Project Chaos W_, he touched Chaos Waste. It was cool and sticky to the touch, but the doctor felt nothing else.

_Well then, I suppose the next necessary step would be to pull a bit of that gel and see if it has reacted to me in any way._

Ivans turned about to grab a syringe from the table in the center of the room but it appeared to be gone. He frowned, then, as usual, he chuckled at his misfortune, "Ah well, I must have moved it somewhere else," he sighed, "Wait for me my little slime ball, I'll be back in a microscopic moment."

The doctor jogged up the stairs of his home to the second story to check his bedroom, where he found nothing but his still packed clothes and medical books. He then proceeded across the building the east wing where he checked to ensure he hadn't misplaced it during his initial tour in one of the many vacant rooms. Of course it was not there either. Samuel resolved to run and check the kitchen, NIDS forbid he left it in there, but he never made it there, because as he was running down the stairs the most disturbing noise caught his attention: the noise of a dozen pieces of metal clattering to the floor.

Samuel broke into a mad dash toward his lab, where the noise had come from, fearing that something had gone horribly wrong with the supposedly polymorphous substance while he was gone. What he found was a very young white haired child, no older than three years old, sitting in the floor playing with a ball of blue slime, alongside a dozen still sealed containers. Samuel was taken aback of course when he saw this child, playing with his Chaos Waste, in the floor of his lab, in the middle of an abandoned city in South America. He promptly attempted to right the whole situation in his mind, examining every possible explanation, and then laughing madly as he realized he must be dreaming, or delusional. However the _child_ took this as a sign that he desired to play, and threw the ball of blue metallic liquid at the doctor's face.

The next moment was pure instinct. Samuel dove to the floor, just barely avoiding the ball of blue Chaos Waste. As he hit the ground he rolled, attempting to regain his footing, however, as he stood he smashed his forehead into one of the tables in his lab, and slowly his vision faded to darkness. The last thing he heard, was the clearly hallucinatory giggling of a child, and that noise a cage makes as it topples to the ground and its bars break apart with the force of the fall. _Wait, why do I know what that would sound li-_ and Dr. Samuel Ivans blacked out.

* * *

"Hey, I think he's waking up," echoed a chipper young voice.

"Well that is optimal, and here I thought that thrashing he gave his head may have been a bit too much for the doctor," replied a second voice, it was huskier, but seemed just as young.

Samuel sat up, taking a glance around the room as he searched for the two voices. The first, he gathered, was that of a blue figure, standing around three feet tall, and nude. Typically he would have averted his eyes, save for the fact that the creature was covered very well with a thick fur, blue all around save for a spot of peach fur in the front of its torso and under its muzzle. He bore a series of razor edged spines running from the top of his head to the bottom of his back, where there appeared to be a small tail protruding. Samuel stared at this for a moment, shocked at the strange creature which, if he didn't know any better, he would say was a rather large hedgehog, that stood on its hind-legs…and spoke.

Ivans shook his head and turned toward the second voice, embodied by a young man who had evidently taken the liberty of digging up some of the taller doctor's clothes, particularly a black t-shirt, a pair of matching cargo pants, and he currently had a lab-coat draped over his shoulders. The youth's head held up a thick coat of white hair that all stood up erratic, his face was bare, and his eyes were a dark blue. Samuel gripped a nearby table and pulled himself up, finding that the boy stood about a foot shorter than him, probably around 5'6 if he had to estimate.

"Well now this is a surprise," Ivans let out a low chuckle as he leaned against the table behind him, "May I ask how you two got here?"

One looked to the other, and then they both looked back at Dr. Ivans, it was the youth who spoke, "Well, I presume you are Dr. Ivans?"

"That is a very good presumption my boy."

"Well," the white haired character thought for a moment, "Do you remember anything from before you passed out?"

"Why yes, as a matter of fact…I was on my way to find a syringe, when I heard a horrible noise from down here, and when I rushed in to check what had happened, I saw a-" Dr. Ivans was caught on the next sentence, that was where it stopped making sense, "toddler…playing with my- Chaos Waste!"

Samuel pushed past the other two figures and quickly dropped to his knees on the ground to look for the Chaos Waste containers. However, as he dug around and scanned the floor rapidly, he found only two containers, both empty with a blue, and a white seal on them.

"Right, about that…" now the blue hedgehog creature spoke up, "See uh, Doc, the Waste, it kind of is us, at least we think, or he thinks."

Now the white haired boy spoke up, "Correct, you see I looked through some of your research notes and kind of put some things together. Based on what I read, and what I've seen, I believe the Chaos Waste only remains _poly-morphous_ until it comes in contact with another lifeform. At which point, I believe it duplicates the base cellular construct of that subject, and duplicates it as best it can."

"As best as it can?" Samuel wondered at this for a moment, "You mean it doesn't create an exact duplicate?"

The white haired youth nodded, "With myself I have white hair, in place of your red hair, and my eyes are different, not to mention my stature."

Ivans chuckled again, "Right, well I can see that. What about you little fell-" Samuel turned to address the anthropomorphic hedgehog, however the creature appeared to be gone. He blinked, and then rubbed his eyes, then looked around the lab for it. But, the hedgehog was nowhere to be found.

"Did you see where that-?"

Suddenly there was a rustling as the hedgehog returned to the room at such speed it was hard for the green eyes to follow him. He stopped on a dime though right beside the other mysterious figure.

"That was…incredibly fast," the doctor trailed off as he stared at the blue thing. He took note of it's extremely slender figure now, both its arms and legs were almost only skin and bone, with a very small frame for its torso. _As a matter of fact, if it weren't for the snout and spines, I suspect his head would be just as small._

The hedgehog grinned and folded his arms behind his head, a sort of cocky stance, "Yeah, I suppose I am pretty fast eh, doc?"

Another hearty chuckle followed, "Indeed. I noticed you both seem to talk rather well, and have at least a basic grasp of the English language, though it clearly exceeds the average student's in places. Do you have any theories on that one m'boy?"

"Heh, not really," the youth scratched his head, "I didn't give it a lot of thought, I figured we were like animals and our communication skills were instinctive."

The hedgehog shook his head here, "Not really though, I mean I had no clue what I was doing when I…woke up?"

"Came to life perhaps," Samuel added, "What do you mean?"

"Well I didn't really understand what was being said toward me by my…counterpart?"

"That will work for this situation, yes."

"But the more he spoke gibberish to me, the more sense everything started to make."

Samuel gaped, "You came to understand the English language…through the speech of one man, over a period of- well, how long was I out?"

"Approximately four hours," the human answered.

"Four hours and you gained such a significant grasp on a language that has been said to be one of the hardest to learn…of course that's because of all of our stupid rules and repetitive words, I suppose if you don't learn some other language first it's only natural that it would be easy to speak. Of course, even those who are born in an English speaking home I suppose struggle with it from time to time, I myself, I've never been one for absolute proper grammar. There are those out there of course that could go on for days about speech patterns and correct sentence structure and-"

"Doctor," the white haired youth interjected rather anxiously, "You're rambling, and something concerns me."

"I apologize," Samuel chuckled, "I do ramble on occasion, what was it that was bothering you?"

"What are you going to do with us?"

Samuel thought on this a minute, rubbing his chin and scratching the scruff along his jawline. He furrowed his brow for a moment, and then simply smiled at the two, "You'll live here, if that's perfectly alright with you of course. You both appear to be sentient, you'd have to be to behave and speak the way you have. As such I can't really make you do anything, but I couldn't possibly _do away with you_ either," here Samuel chuckled again, "And even more impossible would be the idea of sending you two out into the wild! However, I will need some cooperation from the two of you."

"Of course doctor!" the youth replied.

"Hey, we're technically made from your property or something anyway right?" the hedgehog grinned.

"Well, I'll need to take some blood samples, and I'd like some assistance around the lab, with test subjects and the like," he paused for another brief second before continuing, "_Boy_, and _Hedgehog_, simply won't do. You two need names."

"Like Dr. Samuel Ivans right?" the hedgehog questioned.

"Well, similar, of course you wouldn't take the title doctor!" he chuckled, "That takes years of education, and an official certification! But it would be something similar to that. Let's see," the doctor stared at the two for a moment, "Ivo, how does that sound for you lad?"

"Ivo?" the boy replied.

"Yes! Ivo, it's my old nickname from med school. Can't tell you why everyone called me that, but they did."

"That sounds wonderful doctor!"

"Good, good," Samuel turned to the other new boarder, "And for you, my fast little friend, how do you feel about the name Speedy?"

"Speedy? Well I don't know doc, that sounds kind of lame," he grinned, "Besides, I'm a little faster than _Speedy_."

"Ah yes, well, how fast are you then?"

"May I," the hedgehog questioned, "Demonstrate?"

"Please, I would be delighted."

With that, the blue blur was gone, leaving nothing but a haze and a scattering of research papers and empty vials in his wake.

"Oh my, at the speed he just took off, if he's accelerated since making it outside I'm surprised he hasn't created a sonc-" and at that very moment a loud noise rung out, the sound of the sound barrier being broken, "boom…well Ivo how do you like that, our little friend is faster than the speed of sound, isn't that something?"

"It certainly is Dr. Ivans."

Samuel scratched his chin again thoughtfully, "Sonic, I wonder if that name would suit him better?"

As if on cue the hedgehog barreled through the door at breakneck speeds and slid to a stop, barreling Ivo over in a cloud of dust, "That sounds fantastic Doc!"

Ivans chuckled as the two stood, Sonic dusting himself off and Ivo frowning as he fixed the oversized pants. "Sonic it is then! Come on boys, let's get you two settled into your rooms now. We'll discuss more after we've had some dinner."

Dr. Samuel Ivans turned, stepping between the two young boarders as they left the room. He wrapped his arm around the shoulders of the small hedgehog and grinned down at the two, he hoped that these new lives would bring about a great advance in his search for a cure for NIDS. _Sonic the Hedgehog, and Ivo, my oh my what am I getting myself into._

* * *

**EDIT: For clarity purposes a scene break was added between Dr. Ivans passing out and waking up.**


	2. Chapter 2: Chaos, the Energy of Life

**Happy Holidays! Though, a little late, here's the second chapter of the Project Chaos Chronicles!**

**Thanks again to those who reviewed, and those who stuck with me. Special thanks again to Taranea and Captain Space for their feedback!**

* * *

CHAPTER 2: CHAOS, THE ENERGY OF LIFE

_October 19, 2064,_

_Today I performed my first experiment with the Chaos Waste, and it yielded very interesting results. Upon touching the gel it formed a human being! And he's a genius, quite a genius indeed. Afterwards my hedgehog was exposed to the blue gel, and that formed into an anthropomorphic hedgehog, with incredible speed. Sadly, the poor feral thing apparently bolted, but I have two people who can actually speak to keep me company now._

_Now the average man may have lost his mind at such a thing, I mean, _I created life!_ Ah but not Dr. Samuel Ivans, no I took it all in stride and analyzed the entire situation calmly and logically (or as logically as one might look at a sentient, English speaking, bipedal, anthropomorphic hedgehog). Admittedly, even now I am a little doubtful of their existence, I find myself expecting to wake up any moment, but really how could one dream such a thing up?_

_Oh Mina, if only I could be there instead of here! I miss your touch, your voice, the way you spoke. If only you could meet these two, they're both delightful, and the boy reminds me so much of myself when I was younger, and of course I mean he's very intelligent and he knows it, though he doesn't seem to know how or why! Hah! I wish I knew myself._

_Oh well, tomorrow will be a slow day, hopefully everything goes smoothly._

_Dr. Samuel Ivans_

Ivo awoke from a very deep sleep at a perfectly natural six AM. _Or is that perfectly natural? This is so odd, my mind functions as if I've been doing this for years._ Ivo rolled out of bed, sliding easily into his newly fitted cargo jeans and sleeveless shirt. Yesterday, after dinner, Dr. Ivans had taken the time to fit them to him, the man was a trained surgeon so he knew his way around a stitch, the problem being it took him three tries to get the measurements right, but he refused anything except perfection.

The room he stood in was now his own, the doctor had told them that the rooms they picked would be their rooms alone, and he would in no way invade their privacy. Not that it mattered, there was very little in the room, a bookshelf with few books, a desk and chair, his simple twin bed, and a small cage in the corner of the room that held a small confused animal. Ivo stepped up to the cage and gave the hedgehog a gentle pet along its head before turning and heading for the door.

Ivo quietly walked down the stairs, pondering whether either of the others would be awake. He turned the corner at the base of the stairs into the kitchen and found the room to be pristine, no breakfast had been cooked, a fact he missed only due to the emptiness in his stomach, and there were no dishes out from the night before. He spun on his heels and walked to the lab on the opposite end of the house. Standing outside the door he could hear Dr. Ivans talking to himself.

"An incredibly fast hedgehog, and an abnormally intelligent human," he muttered, evidently riffling through papers, "I really wish I could figure out why! Obviously, it's something to do with the Chaos Waste, but then why do they not share those properties? Unless…" Ivans paused here for a moment, then the sound of mad scribbling, evidently note-taking, could be heard, "Of course! The seperate Wastes themselves must have given them those different properties! How else would one explain super-sonic speed and super-human intelligence? So is it random? I simply must test it again! I have to know. But first-" tapping, the pencil being blunted on the table thoughtfully, "first I'll have to get those blood samples, and see what other oddities might be present."

"Dr. Ivans?" Ivo stepped through the threshold now as he addressed the other man.

Samuel didn't turn away from the notes he had returned to scribbling down, "Ivo? You are up early."

"Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy…"

"…wealthy, and wise," at this the doctor turned around, "How do you know that Ivo?"

The youth shrugged, "I'm not sure, it was just my first natural response."

Dr. Ivans chuckled at this, nodding slightly as he beckoned for Ivo to come into the lab more. Ivo followed his waving hand and took a seat beside Samuel at the table, which was currently littered with papers that were covered in various sketches and random sentences. The young genius stared at it all shortly and took it in; it was as if his mind was processing every bit of information it could find.

"Let's see if Sonic has a similar pattern shall we?"

Ivo nodded, "Doctor?"

Dr. Ivans smiled, "Please, call me Samuel, son."

Son- that word stuck out in Ivo's mind as he replied and continued his conversation, "Thank you, Samuel. I just wanted to ask you about this lab, like, why you're out here?"

The red haired man let out another hearty chuckle, "Well, you see Ivo, I was sent out here to study the effects of a certain disease, alongside simultaneous investigation into the material that made you and Sonic, the Chaos Waste."

"NIDS?" Ivo questioned, looking up into the doctor's face and seeing a slight twitch in his eyes.

Samuel closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, "That's correct Ivo. You see, NIDS is a disease that surfaced about fifty years ago, around the same time that the Chaos Emeralds were discovered. It has become quite a problem as the disease has become more and more widespread, and it has made some parts of the world practically unlivable, much like around here," here Ivans pointed out the window, "The Southern Hemisphere of the world has become basically overrun by the jungles down here due to the nature of NIDS."

Ivo frowned, "I thought NIDS was a destructive virus...isn't that why you're seeking a cure?"

Samuel chuckled again, "Why yes, I suppose that's what a virus in and of itself is, a destructive entity. The fact of the matter is, it really only seems to be destructive when contracted by humans, a second strand of NIDS affects plants and animals as well, however they seem to thrive with the effects of it. We're not clear on why it works like that either, we've spent decades studying NIDS, seeking a cure and attempting to isolate both strands, but it has proven entirely futile. We know basically little more about it now than we did when it was first diagnosed and studied."

"Oh," Ivo was intrigued of course, he was getting more data, his mind was receiving more input, it was amazing. He continued his conversation with Dr. Ivans, the stimulation causing him to forget about the hunger in his stomach until they were interrupted about two hours later.

Sonic took very little time to move from his bedroom to the doorway of the lab, having checked every room upstairs and the kitchen and living area downstairs before skidding to a stop in front of the lab door. Here he found Dr. Ivans and Ivo locked in conversation, a sparkle in Ivo's eyes as he listened to the other man go on and on about NIDS and his search for a cure. It was then that Sonic interrupted.

"Doc I am starved- any chance we could get some chow?"

Samuel turned to face the newcomer for a moment, his eyes glazed over and lost in thought, then he chuckled knowingly, "Of course Sonic," he stated as he stood, "You must be hungry as well Ivo," as if to answer the younger man's stomach growled, "Ha, well come along then, let's get you two some breakfast out of the kitchen!"

Sonic was the first to the kitchen, rushing through the process of setting the stove and table, turning on the eyes on the electric stove, and grabbing food out of the refrigerator. Dr. Ivans smiled as he walked into the room with Ivo, finding the places already set at the table, just as he had set them the night before, and the stove already warming up. One thing was out of place, and he promptly corrected the adolescent hedgehog.

"My dear little friend," he muttered as he gathered the beef franks and buns from the blue creature's hands, "These are not breakfast foods! Breakfast is eggs, and bacon! Sausage, and biscuits! Come now, we'll have to teach you a little something about proper eating habits!"

With that he set to work preparing breakfast. Dr. Ivans was by no means a chef, but what he lacked in training, he made up for with experience and determination. Experience referred simply to the four hundred times prior that he had butchered the process in one fashion or another. Ivo and Sonic watched as the professor proceeded through the routine of cracking and frying eggs, shaping and flipping sausage, and carefully frying the bacon thoroughly.

Ivo paid the closest attention, because the process possessed a certain allure to him, it seemed _mechanical_. Knowledge was something Ivo was already keen to absorb, in any form; he could hear Dr. Ivans talk about NIDS for hours and it would still intrigue him. But this, processes and procedures, mechanical operations, these were something he understood innately. It was odd to the youth of course, his only source of information was an expert on biological processes, and yet watching things and thinking of them as the processes of a machine just made it all easier.

But all machinery had kinks, and even looking at the biological form, he witnessed a kink. Dr. Ivans flicked his wrist again to crack yet another egg, but this time he twitched, it was a furious shaking and all at once the egg crumbled in his convulsing fingers. The doctor cursed as he gritted his teeth and dug his fingernails into his palm.

"Are you alright Doctor?" Ivo asked as he edged closer.

Dr. Ivans breathed deeply and then, as if to cover up the irritation, chuckled, "Yes Ivo, I'm fine. I just- slipped."

"Oh," Ivo stared at the ghostly white knuckles that pressed the fingernails into Samuel's palm for a moment longer before retreating, "Okay."

"Now!" Samuel turned, balancing two plates on his arm and holding one in his other hand, "Let's eat!"

Dr. Ivans slid the two plates on his arm down toward Sonic and Ivo, while placing his own plate at the end of the table. He then turned around and switched off the eyes on the stove, and proceeded to seat himself.

"Oh boy! This looks great!" Sonic said with a forkful of egg already in his mouth, followed by a whole strip of bacon and a hunk of a sausage patty.

"Sonic, don't speak with your mouthful," Samuel chided, "And do slow down, I understand that you're fast, but you still cannot just gobble food down like that."

Ivo cut a glance at the hedgehog who continued to eat at the speed his name indicated, and resolved to take a lesson from the doctor, and slowly cut into his egg and processed the meal carefully. While the two humans were only starting their meal, Sonic had already finished and promptly pushed himself back from the table.

"Sonic, you cannot just leave the dinner table whenever you're ready," Ivans lectured, "You'll want to ask to be excused first, it's proper etiquette."

Sonic nodded and followed with a bright eyed request, "May I be excused?"

"No," Samuel chuckled, "You need to let your food digest, so you can just sit and wait on Ivo and I to finish."

Sonic frowned and interlocked his hands, beginning to twiddle his thumbs and whistling quietly. Meanwhile Ivo probed Dr. Ivans between bites:

"So, Dr. Ivans, why are you doing your research out here?"

"Oh, well you see Ivo, Chaos Waste has always been considered a dangerous material, not that there was ever any proof, it's just that most byproducts of energy production are indesirable. So, in order to avoid any sort of outrage at experimentation involving Chaos Waste, I was sent down here to South America, where civilization is basically void."

"It's considered dangerous? So did you take any precautions with it?"

This was answered first with a chuckle, "No, not really. I'm not much for precautions, and clearly my brashness has rewarded me, no I merely analyzed the Waste as it sat before me, resolved that there appeared to be no immediate threat, and took action accordingly."

"What if it had been toxic or something?"

This caused the doctor's eyes to dull slightly, "I would have suffered for my rash decisions I suppose. Everything in life has a purpose though."

Ivo frowned, "Is that some sort of religious ideology?"

Samuel chuckled again, "No, it's my own philosophy, being a scientist you have to recognize that for everything that happens there must be a reaction, which ultimately will lead to another reaction, and in turn everything serves its own purpose."

"Does NIDS hurt?"

This caught Samuel off-guard, it was partially the manner of phrasing, but at the same time the subject matter and suddenness of the question threw him off, "I'm sorry?"

"When-" Ivo looked down at Dr. Ivans' hand, "That is…when you have an _episode_, when NIDS affects your nerves, does it hurt?"

"You mean the tremors?" Samuel nodded, "Yes, sometimes they hurt a lot, and sometimes they hurt very little. It's something you learn to live with I suppose."

Ivo gulped, "Will I suffer from NIDS?"

"I hope not," Samuel smiled, and chuckled happily, "I hope I find a cure before it starts to affect you my boy."

* * *

The fresh jungle air cut through Sonic's spines as he ran. Dr. Ivans had only finished eating a few minutes ago, and already Sonic was long gone. He loved running, for whatever reason. The blue blur moved as fast as his feet would carry him, and he ran as far as he felt he could go while finding his way back, which was never difficult as he tended to leave a pretty easy to follow trail. Occasionally he would have to stop to rest, his feet would get sore from running so fast for so long.

Now he came to one of those rests. He stopped near a lake, a pristine beautiful location, where the sun cut through an opening in the jungle canopy and let its rays reflect off the calm water all around the area. Sonic laid down, closing his eyes and relaxing, crossing one leg over the other and occasionally alternating them to rest each foot equally. It was a beautiful day, and while Ivo and Dr. Ivans stuffed themselves up in the lab, Sonic wanted to enjoy the fresh air.

However, despite all the beauty, the jungle was full of predators, and in the brush beyond the lake, one of those predators was attacking a group of smaller animals. Sonic's ears perked up at the sound and he leapt up to check out the disturbance. Sonic poked his head through a bush and found a panther toying with what was evidently its meal for the day, a small fox and an echidna who were caught out in the jungle all alone. Sonic wasted no time in stepping in to defend the helpless feral kit and echidna. He dashed into the space between the three and delivered a powerful kick to the panther's side, sending it skidding through the dirt.

"Hmph," Sonic smirked at the predator, "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

The feral black ball of fur offered no response, instead leaping at the newcomer's face. However Sonic was much too fast for the animal and ducked under its approach, delivering another kick to its gut and flipping it end over end into a nearby tree. The savage animal stood and growled at him for a moment longer, but seeing that the blue hedgehog was unfazed it turned and fled.

The blue speedster looked down at the two small animals and after only a second of thought scooped them up into his arms and turned on his heel dashing off toward Dr. Ivan's manor.

* * *

Samuel stood over a table with several sheets of paper scattered across it, along with an open steel container. The container bore a red seal on it, and inside it the red Chaos Waste stirred slowly. Ivo stood behind the Professor, studying a group of readouts and writing down specific details that Samuel had need of recording.

"Ivo, compare the sample paper from before breakfast to the most recent, is there any change in the chemical makeup of the virus itself?"

Ivo shuffled several papers around before finally setting two side-by-side, "No sir, professor. The atmosphere isn't mutating it."

Samuel chuckled, "Then as long as nothing comes in contact with these we have what may well be a base form of NIDS in our hands."

The youth nodded and stacked the papers neatly again before turning and standing alongside his elder, who was merely staring at the blob of red slime. "Doctor, is that of any use to you though?"

Dr. Ivans frowned, "Everything has a purpose Ivo, by studying the root of the virus we'll be able to see what exactly changes when it comes in contact with us, and maybe even why. From there, I can search for a way to neutralize those changes."

At that moment Sonic came storming into the house with a fox kit in one hand and an echidna tucked into his arm. His feet were blistered and his face was set in a pained expression. Dr. Ivans turned on the anthropomorph, and seeing his state darted to his side and tried to assist with the animals.

"Sonic what happened? What are these?"

The hedgehog sat down in the floor, laying his legs out in front of himself, "They were being attacked by some big black cat- so I saved them."

Ivo stared at the creatures as Dr. Ivans set them on the table, then turned to assist the professor with picking up Sonic and helping him into the living room. The blue hedgehog was settled into one of the large armchairs in the room, and his feet were promptly sat on a foot stool.

"Sonic, your feet," Samuel frowned, "You've worn blisters all over your feet, how were you even still moving?"

Sonic frowned, "I just ran until I got here- I didn't care about how bad it hurt."

Ivo shook his head, "Pain is your body letting you know it's being damaged, you can't just ignore that."

Sonic stuck his tongue out, "Can so."

"No, you can't Sonic," Dr. Ivans scolded as he stepped between the two, "We're going to need to get you some shoes, preferably some that can stand up to the friction you'll create for them."

The blue blur nodded apologetically and looked down at his bloodied and blistered feet.

"I'll have to order something extremely resilient and claim that it's for experiments with the Waste, hopefully I can convince my superiors that it's important and needs to be delivered promptly."

"Thanks Doc," Sonic smiled up at the older man as he turned to leave the room.

"Of course Sonic," Dr. Ivans turned and smiled at the small creature for a moment, "How could I not?"

With that Samuel proceeded upstairs to his room, where he began composing an email to the heads of the NIDS research teams.

* * *

**To the anonymous reviews:**

**I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter, and I hope the second did not disappoint!**


	3. Chapter 3: Of Life and Quarrels

**And thus do I publish Chapter 3 of my reimagining of Sonic's origins, I pumped this out in a fit of motivation at the end of the month, intent on having it published before a new month began. As such I apologize for any mistakes that were made, I pulled this text out and edited it three times, and then when I resubmitted it I had to go in and manually space again haha. I look forward to any feedback I might receive on my third chapter: creative, corrective, or destructive.**

CHAPTER 3: Of Life, and Quarrels

Dr. Kintobor,

As head of the NIDS research project teams, I have a request of you. Everything has been in proper order since I arrived, with the exception of a portion of protective test supplies. I am in need of a pair of high durability shoes in order to test the effects of Chaos Waste on such materials. I understand that there has been prior work on shoes with a pseudo-plastic build that resists wear and heat damage, if such shoes were made available to me I feel that they could greatly assist in my research of Chaos Waste's practical applications, and in turn the search for a cure.

Sincerely,

Dr. Samuel Ivans, Head Researcher of Project Chaos W

PS. I wear a size seven in US Men's.

[OPENING PRIVATE COMMUNICATION LINE]  
KINTO1: Samuel! How are you sir? It has been a long time.  
SIVANS: I am well, thank you Dr. Kintobor. Yourself?  
KINTO1: First, stop being so formal boy. Second, I am doing well. Now, about your request, what is that really for?  
SIVANS: An experiment with Chaos Waste.  
KINTO1: Samuel...this is a private line, you know this. Also, you wear a size 10 in US Men's.  
KINTO1: I imagine your delay is due to your fit of chuckling at being caught.  
SIVANS: Yes, well. Actually it is for an experiment with the Waste, but it is...the result of the experiment really.  
KINTO1: Haha, what? Have you created a smaller copy of yourself by molding it?  
KINTO1: No reply...chuckling fits again?  
SIVANS: I did. Also an anthropomorphic hedgehog who moves at Mach speeds.  
KINTO1: No, really Samuel, why do you need these shoes?  
SIVANS: I could not be more serious Gerald.  
KINTO1: Fine, keep your secrets Samuel, the shoes are yours. I will have them shipped as quickly as possible, at Mach speeds even!  
SIVANS: Thank you, my friend.

* * *

It was late in the evening when Samuel finally turned his attention back to his experiments with the Chaos Waste. The moon was high and the sun had set long ago, Ivo and Sonic were both in bed already, sound asleep. In the West Wing however, the doctor was sleepless. Samuel was busily running tests on the four blood samples he had gathered from the mansion's various residents. He had exposed the hedgehog's blood to the human variation of NIDS, but there appeared to be no impact. On the contrary, when Samuel exposed Sonic's blood to the Hedgehog's blood the genetic strain of the virus suffered a small change, which he quickly made note of for future comparisons. The research and tests were exhausting, but the only thing in that sleepless night that tore Samuel's attention away from his notes and experiments were the frequent tremors that tore their way down his nervous systems to his fingertips and reverberated back to his twitching eyes.

"GRAH!" one particular spasm caused Ivans to crush a vial of blood in his hand, digging the glass into his flesh. His groan of pain echoed throughout the manor, awakening one of the sleeping characters upstairs. Dr. Ivans heard the light approaching footsteps and quickly pulled the shards of glass from his hand and wrapped it in his lab coat, hiding his bleeding member behind him as Ivo stepped into the doorway, rubbing his eyes.

"Samuel?"

Dr. Ivans smiled at the young man, "Ivo, what are you doing awake lad?"

Ivo frowned, "I thought I heard you shout, it woke me up."

"Oh my apologies," Samuel chuckled as he rang his lab coat with his hand, "I just got overly excited about a result of my experiments."

Ivo stepped over to the table that was littered with various papers, "What was that?"

Samuel checked his now dry hand before continuing over to the table, slipping on gloves in his coat pockets, "The strain of NIDS in Sonic's blood appears to be different from ours or the hedgehog blood I had tested previously."

Ivo averted his eyes at the mention of the doctor's hedgehog, "What is different about it?"

"Well," Samuel sat down in front of the white haired youth, beckoning him to sit beside him, "You know that NIDS promotes an overall healthy and resilient state in feral creatures and plants, but is debilitating in humans, correct?"

Ivo simply nodded.

"With the strand of NIDS Sonic has produced it appears to have-" Samuel paused, "evolved into a self-sustaining strand. I introduced the new version of the virus to the hedgehog's blood and it began a mass modification of the NIDS contained within, killing them off and replacing them with the new strand."

Ivo looked up from the papers at Samuel, "And with our blood?"

Samuel sighed, "Nothing. Well, not nothing. Just, not something."

Ivo quirked an eyebrow, eliciting a chuckle from Dr. Ivans.

"It's like the new strand of NIDS attempted to overtake the old strand, but it couldn't. Like, a sort of power struggle that one lost to the other. I also tried introducing a greater amount of Sonic's strand to our blood samples, no luck."

Ivo nodded, "I guess that makes sense. What about us?"

Dr. Ivans smirked, "What about you?"

Ivo shifted uncomfortably, "Why is Sonic so fast? Why am I so..." Ivo trailed off.

"Intelligent? There's no need in being modest son, you're a genius."

There was that word again, Ivo's face lit up for a moment at the use of that word. Son. Ivo quickly repressed it, becoming slightly flustered as he turned back to the research notes before him.

"Well, I haven't quite figured that out yet, your genetics are not unusual, well...yours are not. Sonic's are, but they're like a cross between human and hedgehog DNA, very odd to look at, but ultimately they're not all that much of a concern. One of a kind, I would need a much larger selection of anthropomorphic hedgehogs to create even a partial genetic codex."

"Doctor, I don't believe that's exactly correct-"

More profuse chuckling, "I am aware, my boy. Now, to finish, I don't know the exact reason behind your unique intelligence, nor Sonic's unique speed. However, I do suspect that these traits can be attributed to your unnatural creation process," here Ivans suddenly broke into a fit of not chuckling, but uproarious laughter, "'Unnatural,' as if I know the origin of life itself and I can deny that Chaos Waste forming into new life forms is not the way it was supposed to happen."

Ivo blushed, "Doctor?"

Samuel caught himself and smiled, "Yes, my boy?"

"The sun is coming up," Ivo whispered as he pointed out a nearby window.

Dr. Ivans nodded, "Yes it is. How about we start setting up for a new experiment, one that might bring us closer to understanding all of this."

* * *

It was hours later, after Sonic had awoken and demanded breakfast as usual, after breakfast had been prepared and eaten, and after the lab had been setup for a new experiment, when Dr. Ivans and the two youths in his home were interrupted by a loud thud outside. Sonic was the first outside, despite Samuel's repetitive warnings not to go ahead of him.

The loud thud was a military style airdrop sitting a few feet away from Dr. Ivan's front door. It was a large heavy steel crate, with two very simple latches on the edge, with a stylized 'GUN' emblem on the front. Upon releasing the two latches Dr. Ivans found a small package inside, securely fastened with a note that simply read, "You're Welcome, -Dr. Kintobor"

"Sonic, come over here and open this for me," Samuel called over his shoulder at the hedgehog that was now speeding around the yard senselessly. When the hedgehog arrived he wasted no time in unfastening the package's restraints and removing from the case a pair of red and white sneakers. Base red shoes, with a white stripe across their face, and white soles made of some strange material. Sonic stared at them hard.

"They're yours, Sonic," Samuel chuckled as he closed the door to the drop pod, "I had a friend of mine ship them out here. Those shoes are resistant to all forms of wear, meaning the immense friction you build up when running won't be a problem any-"

Dr. Ivans' words caught in his throat as the blue anthropomorph latched onto him in a warm embrace, "Thanks so much- Doc."

Samuel blushed, and in turn chuckled as he reached down and petted the young anthropomorph's quills, "You're certainly welcome, Sonic."

"Doctor," Ivo now approached looked down bashfully, "What of the experiment?"

"Quite right!" Dr. Ivans threw up his pointer finger in sudden recognition, "Come along you two, we have life to create."

At that, Samuel commenced to chuckling all the way to his laboratory, where he took a spot directly in front of a sterilized glass dome. Underneath, was the small echidna that Sonic had rescued the day before, wandering around inside his confinement unaware of the three observing sentient beings. On the other side of the glass from Dr. Ivans was a table, holding the sealed red Chaos Waste container. A gloved insert allowed the doctor to reach in and unseal the container, without contaminating the environment, which he promptly poured onto the floor in front of the echidna. As the red slime took on a spherical shape, similar to Dr. Ivan's previous test with the white Chaos Waste, the small creature inside was taken hold of by curiosity. It wasted no time in walking up and examining the sphere, into which it stuck its nose.

Then, all at once, the echidna became uninterested in the slime and wandered away. Which was perfectly fine in Samuel's opinion because it had done what he needed it to do. Now he watched as the slime began to expand on the floor, slowly taking on a new shape.

Sonic and Ivo let out low gasps of amazement as the red slime stretched into a loose humanoid shape, then slowly the extremities began to change. First came the head, where the creature's snout formed and dreadlock like quills stretched out from. The hands and feet then began to naturally define themselves, the feet were not unlike Sonic's, however the hands immediately clenched into fists, as the knuckles began to develop into two round points.

Here Samuel noted that the bone structure could be seen forming inside the slime, giving shape to the otherwise shapeless material. The knuckles in particular were due to very large bone growths over which peach skin and thick red fur was rapidly developing.

"What's up with his knuckles?" Sonic asked.

At this, Samuel chuckled, peering through the glass with joy at the creature forming from the Chaos Waste, "I have no idea, Sonic, perhaps they are intended for digging."

It was then that the creature's eyes opened. It stood and looked around briefly, stopping when it saw the three figures staring at it through the glass dome. The red creature began to growl under its breath, and without any further notice it leapt. It threw a punch at the glass with as much momentum as it could muster. It punched through the thick protective glass with ease, shattering the dome and batting the three figures away with its wild swings. The creature wasted no time swinging at the red haired professor who now frantically crawled away backwards.

The red hand was cut short by a sudden kick to the creature's side. Sonic landed on his feet and gazed across at the echidna, "Whoa now man- no need to get aggressive."

It paid the blue hedgehog's words no mind as it turned to face him, growling as it prepared to leap again. It rushed at Sonic, but to no avail as the quickster dropped under its leap and kicked it behind him as it flew over.

Sonic leapt back to his feet and grinned, "No seriously- hit the road Jack- you're no match for me."

With that the red echidna roared, charging again at the elusive hedgehog. Sonic easily backpedaled and weaved around the blows. Each punch met with nothing but air as Sonic casually dodged the echidna's furious swings. Finally however, the red creature's moment had come, as Sonic felt the stone wall press against his quills.

"Well then-" Sonic chuckled and held up his hands, "You wanna talk about this?"

Again the echidna roared as it through a spiked hand directly at Sonic's face. At the last second Sonic ducked under the blow, allowing the dreadlocked creature to punch straight through the wall behind him. Sonic tumbled backward as he felt the wall give way, and grunted as he rolled back onto his feet.

"Whoa- you're a pretty tough cat," Sonic edged out another string of words as the echidna stepped out of the lab in pursuit, "I s'pose it's no good trying to talk to you- you don't seem to understand."

It was true, it seemed that the only form of communication the echidna was capable of, was an incessant growl and furious roars. Which were all that followed as it leapt at the hedgehog once more, stretching out its full body as it unleashed its momentum again. Sonic again easily ducked under the creature's flying assault, and smoothly launched a sideways kick into its abdomen, sending the echidna spinning through the air. It slid to a crunching stop in the dirt as Sonic stood and dusted himself off.

As the echidna corrected its position it let out another low guttural growl, threatening with its eyes to tear the hedgehog to pieces. But then, with no evident trigger or logic to its actions, the echidna raised its snout to the sky. It closed its eyes and seemed to enter a deep trance for just a moment, before rushing off into the jungle, paying no mind to the creatures behind it.

"Phew," Sonic slouched, placing his hands on his knees, "That could'o been bad if he hit me," the blue blur turned and dashed back into the lab, where he found Samuel correcting several tables that had been knocked over during their scuffle, while Ivo merely trembled in the corner, "Doc- he ran off into the jungle."

"Good riddance," Samuel chuckled as he gathered up several shards of broken glass, "Although, I was really looking forward to getting some blood samples from him."

Ivo stepped forward at this point, holding a syringe in his hand, still trembling slightly from the shock of the whole event, and presented the small needle to the professor, "I- I managed to get a sample."

Samuel stared at the young man, "When did you-"

"I-I grabbed it when he leapt out of the-" he stuttered some here, "the glass. He pushed us back and I grabbed this from the table. When Sonic kicked him away from you, I-"

Samuel grabbed the boy in a warm embrace, silencing his stuttering, and waved for Sonic to come to him, which he obliged, "My boys, you did so well today. Sonic if it weren't for you we may have been seriously hurt, or even killed. And Ivo, you managed to save a failed experiment in light of all that danger."

"Lunch?" was the only thing Sonic responded, to which Ivo responded with a glare, and Dr. Ivans answered with a chuckle.


End file.
